1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an LED lighting apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
LED lighting apparatuses that use LED chips as their light sources are increasingly used. Patent Document 1 (see e.g. JP-A-2011-134684) discloses an example of such an LED lighting apparatus. The LED lighting apparatus includes a plurality of LED chips arranged two-dimensionally and a cover covering the LED chips. The cover is translucent and passes light from the LED chips while diffusing the light.
The LED lighting apparatus is intended for use as an alternative to a conventional lighting apparatus provided with a fluorescent lamp. Thus, the LED lighting apparatus is made to have an appearance similar to that of a lighting apparatus provided with a fluorescent lamp. Since the LED chips are point light sources, the LED chips and the cover need to be spaced apart from each other by a sufficient distance in order that uniform light can be emitted from the cover. Thus, the thickness of the LED lighting apparatus cannot be sufficiently reduced in spite of the use of LED chips as the light source.